BB&K Attorney Todd Leishman Testifies Before Congress on Sober Living Home Regulations

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Best Best & Krieger attorney Todd Leishman testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice at a hearing entitled, “Examining Sober Living Homes” on Friday. Leishman was invited to testify on the need for federal law to clearly allow local government to regulate addiction-recovery businesses that operate “sober-living homes” to better protect residents from harm.

“People in recovery benefit most from living in residential facilities that are small, spread out and well-run,” testified Leishman. “The least intrusive and most effective way to ensure this is through local regulation.” After noting abuses that frequently arise at unregulated facilities, including drug-dealing, sexual assaults and overdoses, Leishman testified that “local government is in the best position to prevent these abuses,” but needs Congress to confirm that “permissible regulation includes ... maximum-occupancy limits ... minimum-separation requirements ... and minimum operational standards....

“Federal law needs to expressly allow that to happen,” he added.

The Committee invited Leishman to testify because of his experience advising cities in California and other states on the application of the federal Fair Housing Act Amendments, Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act to local regulation of sober-living homes. Leishman also worked with Rep. Darrell Issa’s office in drafting H.R. 472, the Safe Recovery and Community Empowerment Act.

Other witnesses at the hearing included Rep. Judy Chu and Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, both from California; Florida State Attorney Dave Aronberg; Sara Pratt, a former fair-housing enforcement attorney for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Huntington Beach Mayor Pro Tem Erik Peterson.

Best Best & Krieger LLP is a national law firm that focuses on environmental, business, education, municipal and telecommunications law for public agency and private clients. With more than 200 attorneys, the law firm has 10 offices nationwide, including Irvine, Sacramento, San Diego and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.bbklaw.com or follow @BBKlaw on Twitter or @BestBestKrieger on Facebook.

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Established in 1891, Best Best & Krieger LLP is a full-service law firm with about 200 attorneys in 10 offices across California and in Washington, D.C.
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